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Epic Games VP explains why PS4 is like 'the world's best PC'

One of the biggest changes for the upcoming console generation is the switch to x86 architecture. What does Epic Games--developer of the near-ubiquitous Unreal Engine--have to say about it? Well, they're gushing as well.

One of the biggest changes for the upcoming console generation is the switch to x86 architecture. That means working on PS4 (and likely the next Xbox) will be very similar to working on a PC. Already, Far Cry 3's tech director has spoken out on how great a decision that is. But what does Epic Games--developer of the near-ubiquitous Unreal Engine--have to say about it? Well, they're gushing as well.

"It's really important for us because we know the PC, we know the evolution of the PC and we work closely with those vendors on those parts," Epic VP Mark Rein said. "There's nothing that we have to guess about--we know what the processors can do, we know what the CPUs can do and we're using those same parts on the actual development hardware that we use. It just makes it a lot smoother and it also means we can build on our particular strength."

Rein compares PS4 to "the world's best PC," thanks to its generous memory--a feature that's standard across-the-board. "Even Windows for most people is tied to about 2GB of addressable memory space. This really opens up beyond what most PCs can do, because most PCs are running a 32-bit versions of Windows," he told CVG. "Let's not forget [PS4] has 16 times the memory we had in PlayStation 3--that's not insignificant. Knowing that every machine has that...we can do crazy, ridiculous stuff with that."

Of course, Microsoft has yet to announce their next Xbox, but they're rumored to be making many moves similar to Sony in the coming generation. Rein said that he's "sure that Microsoft will be doing something along those lines." If the rumors are to be believed, the industry's universal move to x86 should make game development easier for everyone.